


A Time Like This

by DValkyrie



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: A moment of silence for Niijima Makoto who honestly needs a raise or something, F/F, F/M, M/M, Makoann centric, Menstruation, TW Menstruation, cameos from other ships, having these things sucks, mature stuff, the woes of having a certain piece of genetalia, yfm fam?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-26
Updated: 2017-09-26
Packaged: 2019-01-05 16:59:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12194004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DValkyrie/pseuds/DValkyrie
Summary: It's shark week. Run for your life, woman.





	A Time Like This

**Author's Note:**

> Look,
> 
> I'm on a study break and it's my own shark week. This shit hurts and my gf isn't here to comfort me because that's what I turn into when this happens - a whiny piss baby who needs princess time and cries about everything.

 

Makoto woke up on a Monday morning at her usual time of 6am. Criminals wouldn’t stop themselves, after all.   
  
She sat up, stretched and rubbed her eyes, expecting to see a familiar lump next to her in the bed. Normally, the lump would be stationary, probably snoring, but today wasn't the case.  
  
The lump was there, no doubt, but it was wriggling slowly.  
  
"Ann?" Makoto leaned over and gently pulled back the bed sheet with two fingers, expecting to see the calm sleeping face of her girlfriend.  
  
But she saw discomfort and pain instead.  
  
"Makoo~" Ann whined softly with her eyes shut and hands wrapped around herself.  
  
Makoto's blood turned cold and her heart dropped, going 'splat' into her stomach.   
  
"A-Ann, love, what's wrong?" Makoto asked gently, moving a blonde strand of hair away from her lover's face while knowing the answer to her question already.

Ann opened her eyes, watery and blue, and gazed at Makoto as if she was about to have the living daylights beaten out of her.  
  
"It's my time."  
  
Makoto's face whitened as moved closer to place a soft kiss on Ann's temple.  
  
"I'm sorry about that, will you call in sick from work?"  
  
Ann nodded and reached around to take Makoto's Buchimaru-kun pillow to hug tightly.  
  
"Do you want me to tell the others that you can't make it to lunch?" Makoto softened her voice more and stroked Ann's cheek with the back of her fingers.  
  
"Mmm...yes pwease..." Ann's weak reply instantly put Makoto on edge. The calm before the storm.  
  
"Would...would you like anything else?" Makoto was very careful with her words, knowing how easy it was for anyone to swing moods during a time like this.   
  
"Ice cream..."  
  
Makoto furrowed her brow and scratched the back of her head, feeling the little knots that had formed during her sleep.  
  
"It's a bit early for that, plus we both know that green tea is better to have that ice cream during th-"  
  
Ann's head snapped back to look at Makoto with a deadly glare.  
  
Makoto gulped, "Ann, you'll feel a lot better when you have tea - you know this."  
  
The blonde puffed out her cheeks and pulled the entire bed sheets to herself, leaving Makoto exposed in her Buchimaru-Kun pyjamas.  
  
"Ann," Makoto sighed and moved closer, but a hand struck out and jabbed Makoto by the cheek away.  
  
Ann huffed and curled up like a hedgehog, and Makoto sighed, swinging her legs off the bed.  
  
"Ann, please listen to me."  
  
Another huff.  
  
Makoto sat up and got dressed.  
  
"Would you like an appointment with Dr. Takemi?"  
  
Another huff.  
  
"Well what is it you want?" Makoto herself huffed at Ann while throwing open her cupboard door and pulling out her uniform. It was already 6:25am.  
  
"I can't understand huffs," she added, and was only met by a throaty groan.  
  
"You're a dog now?"  
  
Another short groan.  
  
Makoto rested her head against the mirror inside her cupboard. Shutting her eyes, she counted back from five to one.  
  
"Ann, I need to go to work. Is there anything you want while I am out?"  
  
"Ice cream," a proper mumble of a response.  
  
Makoto threw on her blue shirt and buttoned it up to the top.  
  
"There's ice cream in the fridge that you want to eat already, so I can't bring anymore home."  
  
Ann shot up and gave Makoto another scowl.  
  
"Why are you such a bitch?!" She snapped, her hands gripping the covers so tightly her knuckles were lightening in colour.  
  
"I'm not! You want ice cream, as silly as that is, and it's already in the fridge for you!"  
  
Ann threw the Buchimaru-kun pillow at Makoto with all the force her cramping body could muster. Makoto managed to block the aerodynamic panda just in time to hear an ungodly screech from her girlfriend.  
  
"Get out! I hate you!"  
  
"No you don't, you hate the pain," Makoto rolled her eyes and chucked the pillow back onto the bed before proceeding to finish getting dressed.  
  
"There's food in the fridge, take some tablets, I'll visit Takemi and get more painkillers too," Makoto looked over at the calender in their room and noticed the big red 'X' in red on the current date, then saw the black 'X' right under it to signal that she was due next week.  
  
"I'll get the rest of myself ready at the station, I'm running late," Makoto blew a kiss to the gremlin monster in the bed and picked up her biker jacket from the rack behind the door.  
  
She left the room and heard a scream and dodged the same Buchimaru-Kun pillow that shot out after her.  
  
"I'm a fucking hormonal princess! LOVE ME!"   
  


* * *

"Geez, you look like you've been fighting shadows," Ryuji smirked as Makoto took off her helmet and look at him with lifeless eyes.   
  
"It's Ann," she let out an exasperated sigh and dismounted her bike. The police station was right next to the café Haru owned and ran, and her boyfriend was sitting out the front with a cold drink on the table.  
  
"Good morning Mako-chan!" Haru came outside with a takeaway cup of coffee for Makoto, having known the police commissioner for a number years and her regular order.  
  
"Morning Haru, and thanks," Makoto gave a tired smile and took the coffee from Haru.  
  
"Ann's going through a tough time," she explained with an eyebrow raise towards Haru as an indication it was THAT time.  
  
"Oooh, I see," Haru nodded in understanding and touched her own stomach.  
  
"Lucky mine just finished. You would think after all of us being friends for so long that we would all sync up."  
  
"Yeah, that's true," Makoto chuckled and took a long sip of the coffee.  
  
Ryuji looked between his girlfriend and friend, confused and furrow browed.  
  
"Ya lost me."  
  
"It's a certain thing that we have because we have certain parts, darling," Haru patted his shoulder gently.

It took the blonde a minute, then the lightbulb switched on.  
  
"Oh it's the thing where you get me to hide the knives once a month!" He blurted out, which made Makoto blink in shock at Haru.  
  
"I'm...not even going to ask," Makoto was lost for words.  
  
"Don't," Ryuji warned then winked at Haru.   
  
Makoto's phone buzzed in her pocket. She took it out and saw an image from Ann...in her hoodie with the hood up, a scowl on her face and flipping the bird.  
  
Underneath was a message:

_**Ann:** Bring home chocolate or sleep somewhere else_  
  
"Did Ann-chan just start?" Haru asked Makoto, who let out a groan. Ann was wearing the 'emotions hoodie.'   
  
"Today, she's probably eating ice cream right now, seeing as that's what she wants."  
  
"Tea is normally better for us," Haru mused out loud and Makoto winced.  
  
"I always suggest tea and she throws a fit. You'd think by now I'm used to what she's like during menstruation," Makoto rubbed her eyes.  
  
"So I take it Ann ain't join' us for lunch then," Ryuji rocked on the back legs of his chair.  
  
"No way, unless you want to get pillows thrown at you," Makoto hung her head and turned on her heel.  
  
"I need to start work, see you guys later."  
  


* * *

 

With her emotions hoodie on, Ann was curled up on the couch of the apartment she owned with Makoto. On the tv was a re-run of an old anime from the nineties. In Ann's lap was a tub of ice cream and next to her was a pile of painkillers.  
  
"I bet Sailor Moon didn't have cramps," she muttered, scooping up a dollop of ice cream and shoving it into her mouth.  
  
She had calmed down from the morning and was now just in a slump, and felt bad for yelling at Makoto out of the sheer pain that felt like someone swinging a sledgehammer against her ovaries.   
  
With a sigh, she picked up her phone and went into her messages and found the thread for her and Makoto. She typed out a quick message:  
  
 _ **Ann:** Sorry bout this morning I didnt mean any of it, i love you <3_

She sent it off and curled even tighter into a ball, knowing Makoto wouldn't look at her phone until she was on a break.

* * *

 

"Sure am glad I don't suffer from that monstrosity," Yusuke crossed his long arms and flicked his hair back.   
  
"Then why do you act like it half the time?" Akira asked, not missing a beat and not looking up from his phone.   
  
Yusuke could only look dumbfounded as Ryuji burst out into laughter with Morgana and Haru giggled with her hand over her mouth.   
  
Makoto was not paying attention, but reading the text Ann had sent her earlier in the day. She tapped out a response slowly, not knowing if Ann's mood had swung since the time the text was sent.  
  
 _ **Makoto:** Its okay, I know. I love you too.  
  
_A minute later, the phone vibrated again and Makoto looked at the screen.  
  
 ** _Ann:_** _Can you please get the stronger meds?  
  
_ ** _Makoto:_** _Sure, did you want anything else, your majesty?_

**_Ann:_ ** _Crepes with chocolate and chocolate ice cream and pocky and chocolate mochi and chocolate cake and-_

Makoto pocketed her phone and returned to the conversation, which was to no surprise still questioning Yusuke's very existence.

* * *

 

Ann opened the freezer and pouted at the the diminishing ice cream. She opened the fridge next and peered inside, finding a white chocolate mousse inside.   
  
"This will do," she sighed and pulled her victim from the fridge.  
  
Her phone buzzed in her pocket. Setting aside the mousse and retrieving her phone, Ann opened the group chat thread and smiled at the picture of Yusuke looking shocked about something.  
  
 _ **Ann:** Lmaooooo hahaha_

She typed back a response and dug into her mousse, shutting her eyes tightly to ignore the bear trap that was just let off in her stomach.

* * *

 

"...Menstrual cycle, huh?"  
  
Makoto scowled at Takemi from across the examination.   
  
"Yes."  
  
"And yours is next week," Takemi didn't even look up from the boxes she was putting stickers on.  
  
Makoto flushed bright red and cross her arms and legs.  
  
"M-Mind your own business! You don't even know for sure!" Makoto squeaked and curled into herself as Takemi smirked.  
  
"I know because you're in sync with your sister," she handed the box of painkillers out to the younger Niijima, enjoying the frown on her face.  
  
Makoto pulled out her wallet and slapped the yen down on the table.   
  
"Keep the change, tell sis I said hi and to not share that stuff," she grumbled and left the room, a smirking Takemi watching her as she did so.  
  
"She didn't share it, kid. I'm a doctor."  
  


* * *

 

Makoto turned the key to the apartment and entered. The lights were off, save the television playing.   
  
On the couch was Ann, half on her back half on her side fast asleep with her mouth open. Her hoodie was still up, so Makoto gently closed the door behind her and crept over the kitchen to set down the plastic bags and the takeaway on the counter.   
  
She took a deep breath, and gently approached the sleeping Ann and sat beside her.  
  
"Ann," Makoto let a finger trail along from Ann's shoulder to her arm.  
  
The blonde stirred and slowly opened her unfocused eyes.  
  
"...Mako..."  
  
"That's me, the bitch you hate," Makoto smiled pressed a kiss to Ann's head.   
  
Instantly, Ann curled up and groaned, "I...don't hate you..."  
  
"I know you don't," Makoto rubbed Ann's back in slow circular motions.   
  
"You hate the pain, and you're allowed to."  
  
"...It sucks," Ann sat up slowly and shook the hair out of her face.  
  
"I'm fucking gay I don't deserve this."  
  
Makoto chuckled and brought Ann into a hug. She let Ann rest against her and continued to rub her back and arm.  
  
"You don't, honey. You really don't."  
  
Ann let out a soft hum and relaxed even more, still wincing at the pain.  
  
"I got the pain killers for you, and brought home some takeout and a hot chocolate," Makoto said softly, and Ann lifted her head to look directly into brown eyes.  
  
"For me?"  
  
"For you," Makoto nudges Ann's nose gently, loving the dazed smile that came from the blonde.  
  
"You hormonal monster princess."  
  
Ann giggled and took down her hoodie to reveal matted twin-tails. She leaned in and gently kissed her girlfriend on the lips.  
  
Makoto tasted chocolate, and only chocolate, but at least it wasn't the taste of enemy blood.   
  
"Wanna eat on the couch?" Makoto mumbled against Ann's sweet lips.  
  
"Mhm," was the weak response.  
  
Ann spent the night in Makoto's lap with pad thai in her lap and the fluffiest hot chocolate ever on the coffee table in front of her. Makoto pampered her silly as they watched some strange game show featuring men say tongue-twisters or get their balls hit.  
  
"That," Ann said through a mouth of noodles.  
  
"That is what it's like."  
  
"I'll be sure to tell Yusuke," Makoto grinned.

* * *

 

**~One Week Later~**

Ann yawned and stretched, feeling better than ever. She had an early photoshoot out at the fishing pond.  
  
"Morning Mako," Ann rolled over to kiss her girlfriend, but got a groan in response.  
  
"Mako?" The blonde looked down and saw Makoto, thriving in pain with gritted teeth, clutching at her stomach.  
  
"Ann...Ann help..." The brunette hissed and whined, clinging to her Buchimaru-Kun pillow.   
  
Ann placed a hand to her cheek and sighed - it was her girlfriend's time.  
  
"Alright, what do you want babe?" Ann big spooned Makoto and rested her hands on the tight stomach.  
  
"Ice cream," was the response from the woman in pain.  
  
"Babe, it's 7am, you can't have ice cream for br-"  
  
"Shut up and get me dairy," Makoto snapped and curled up into a ball.  
  
Ann scowled and sat up again.  
  
"Fine, fine. I'm getting you green tea as well, it'll make you feel better."  
  
"Come back quickly, cancel everything I need you here," Makoto instantly whimpered and gave Ann a puppy dog pout.  
  
Ann put her hand on her hip and shook her head with a smile.  
  
"Sure thing, your majesty." 

**Author's Note:**

> Periods are the worst thing ever okay.


End file.
